David Jacobsen Asks the Media to Downplay the Arms-for-Hostages Deal With Iran Ca. 1986

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- 1986

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Although President Ronald Reagan officially refused to negotiate with terrorists, in August 1985, he authorized a secret deal that would send weapons to Iran in exchange for help negotiating the release of American hostages in Lebanon, including David Jacobsen, who was released in November 1986. The sale was indirect: The United States sent the shipment to Israel, which in turn sold the weapons to Iran. Both President Reagan and David Jacobsen asked the media not to investigate claims of this secret deal, lest the remaining hostages pay with their lives. Ultimately, the Reagan administration found the deal a convenient way to sidestep the Boland Amendment, which prohibited the use of federal funds to overthrow the Marxist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.